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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · rash · spring · ball · last · nail · bear · club

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. club — for golf
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. ball — a great time
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. last — finally
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. last — final
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. rash — hasty
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bear — the animal
  15. ball — a dance
  16. bear — the animal
  17. club — for dancing
  18. club — a group
  19. cold — an illness
  20. spring — a coil
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. last — to go on
  23. spring — of water
  24. rash — a series

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com